Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit | white's commentslogin

I agree this is one of solutions. However, it doesn't seem to scale very well, based on my experience observing companies with 100 to 300 eng teams.

The problem doesn't disappear though, but shifts to other people. Unless you have seen it differently - can you tell me more?


No, I’ve never seen it done well at that size.

The architects didnt understand the code. The developers didnt understand how it would be used, and the managers didnt understand either. The executives understood none of this, nor appreciated what was involved, but focused on what sounded flashy.

A “tiger team” of exceptional people (who understood everything) was formed, tried valiantly, and managed to make progress even possible… But even Superman cannot boil the ocean.

The problem wasn’t even technology or management — just too many people who didn’t understand what the were building or how it would be used. This included both the technical side as well as the “use case” side. They also had no comprehension of how their component interacted with the rest of the system.

I’ve all seen small teams of 10-20 do amazing things because they all understand the goal. They may have different ideas but can quickly arrive at a final design and make it happen.


(1) is fair point. Use at your own risk. This tool is transactional and stores nothing.

(2) that’s a different use case. This tool is for automation, something that is not being done manually. I do agree there are lots of options to do this on your computer. This tool is for somebody who has emails going and forth and wants an easy PDF copy.


I will continue being skeptical and hear me out.. (because your clients may also be skeptical).

Emails are by default not encrypted, so even if you claim (apologies - "trust no one") that you don't keep any data (well you MUST be at least keeping logs)(and how can we know that XYZ agency won't tap into your systems?) then the ISPs can sniff these stuff out.

I'm not trying to trash your product, it is a good thing to have if one needs it, but I am thinking of the risks (and so do all your potential clients).


Not sure if I understand, but you can forward any email and it will reply back to you with PDF version of what you’ve sent. Hope it helps.


Interesting you bring this up. Actually, our implementation was intentionally de-coupled from the product and it's based on auth API endpoints. (So yes, for something beyond basic conditional logic, this needs to be enabled first.)

Before a call, this diagram comes with manifest of what data has to be supplied into it. So once it's called, all prep data is there. Whatever happens inside is data manipulation and some basic operations. The output of it is also described in the contract.

Very similar to how customized pricing/rating engine might work (as, in fact, I was PM for one of such).

Your project seems fun, too. I'm pretty sure you are going after some specific use cases.


Thanks for responding.

What is custom NTP in browser?

And what do you define as “first access” problems ?


New Tab Page (extension). So my top 20+ pages I visit are one click away when I open a new tab.

And it has a quick note taking feature too.


How do you sync it with your service? Or do you keep copy of the contacts info in both locations?


For now there is no sync. We haven't historically been focused on SaaS delivery, so that wasn't an issue. It will be in the future as shift more to a hosted model and build our customer portal. But we're not quite there yet.


- So do I understand you correctly, you have both the mobile friendly Web site and native app?

- Are you monetizing your native app or is it "buy 1, get 2nd free" type of a thing?

- Why do you need mobile app at all?

- Is your native app only to gain more market traction, or it actually can do something Web-version cannot?


Yes, both mobile friendly and native

Our monetization will come from sponsors - we currently do not intend to charge our students.

Knowing our target demographic, we know their in school the majority of the day. We know their busy and may or may not be in front of a computer. We feel having a strong mobile presence will allow them to interact with the website more consistantly and more frequently. I want both mobile and native because I want our students to have the best possible experience. As I'm the sole programmer, I can handle the mobile and iOS native apps myself. I can't handle an (multiple) Android version or even Windows mobile and gasp... Blackberry. As I know the majority of my users are iOS users, they'll get the best experience in a native app. Everyone else - I hope the mobile version is just as good...

The native app is to improve reach and connection. A feature of the native app will be a push notification to notify students when other students need help. Think of it like your question here. You needed help / had a question to ask of your peers; but the only people that saw it are the people that clicked on the link to view your question. If other people got a notification that a question was raised on a topic they care about, your question would have a better chance of getting answered and you'd have a better chance of getting the help you needed.


Sure thing, I gave it a try, however you can only contact 6-7 people per day, with so far my success rate of those willing to talk is next to nothing.


A lot of sellers have external online stores which usually have an email address listed. Plus it's going to take you a lot of time to do this. Nobody said it would be fast. Welcome to the world of trying to make a real business work. It's hard. Takes time. There is no way to simy hack it.


I run a custom site that I share with a limited group of partners/friends with a rating system where everybody can rate/comment on my ideas. I'm not the only one who posts ideas though.

P.S. Wanna invite? Email me why.


Let me put it this way - a good idea is 30%. A bad one - is none. That's why there are a lot of crappy ideas, and people are constantly looking for something good.


Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: